Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The ICARUS antenna is on its way to the International Space Station - German-Russian cooperation for animal observation from space

DLR German Aerospace Center
- Web Portal News -


The ICARUS antenna is on its way to the International Space Station - German-Russian cooperation for animal observation from space

Relief was evident at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) in Bonn, and at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (MPIO) in Radolfzell on Lake Constance. A Russian Soyuz 2-1A launcher and a Progress cargo spacecraft carrying the antenna block for the German-Russian project ICARUS (International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space) set off for the International Space Station (ISS), which orbits Earth at an altitude of 400 kilometres. Lift-off occurred on 13 February 2018 at 09:13 CET (14:13 local time) and Progress is scheduled to reach the ISS on 15 February 2018 at 11:45 CET. "The Russian Progress MS-08 cargo spacecraft carries approximately 2500 kilograms of supplies, of which about 200 kilograms are allotted to ICARUS – the most technically advanced project for animal observation from space," explains Johannes Weppler, ICARUS Project Manager at the DLR Space Administration in Bonn. "We are very happy that ICARUS will soon enter its operational phase after several years of intensive preparation and that the hardware required for this – the antenna and on board computer will soon both be at the Zvezda module in the Russian sector of the space station." The computer was already transported to the ISS by a Soyuz launcher on 14 October 2017.

ICARUS intends to research the global migration flows of animals – at the focus first of all are small animals such as birds, bats or flying foxes. Tiny transmitters, which weigh less than five grams and are known as tags, collect information on their migratory behaviour and transmit this to the ISS. "Entered into a database, the aim is to help protect animals, better understand Earth's climate and the spread of diseases as well as helping to practise more sustainable agriculture," says Weppler, clarifying the purpose of the project. This is because animals – in contrast to humans – often react much earlier and with greater sensitivity to changes in the environment.


Full article with images: http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10081/151_read-26038/year-all/#/gallery/29728

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